Blasts, gunshots injure 30 in Thai capital

Explosions and gunshots have injured nearly 30 people in central Bangkok as anti-government protests continue in Thailand.

Bangkok’s Erawan Emergency Center said at least 28 people were taken to a number of hospitals, but it was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were.

The emergency center stated that there were two explosions and gunshots at Victory Monument, located in Ratchathewi District of the Thai capital.

The monument is one of the major intersections in Bangkok held by opposition protesters since January 13.

The violence was the latest in a series of attacks by unidentified assailants on protesters seeking to oust the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

On Saturday, local authorities said a man was shot in the back and critically wounded in Bangkok’s Ladprao District.

Protests started in Thailand on October 31, 2013, after the government proposed an amnesty bill that could have pardoned the prime minister’s brother, former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, setting the scene for his return to Thailand.

The ex-premier, who was ousted in 2006, has been in self-exile since 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence over corruption.

The protests intend to derail February 2 election, which the prime minister called in an attempt to contain the political crisis.